1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic ultrasonic measurement apparatus which measures an axial length of an examinee's eye or the size of a given constituent part of the eye by bringing an ultrasonic probe into contact with a cornea of the eye, and an ophthalmic measurement method.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known an ophthalmic ultrasonic measurement apparatus which measures an axial length of an examinee's eye or the size of a given constituent part of the eye by bringing an ultrasonic probe into contact with a cornea of the eye. However, when measurement of an axial length of an examinee's eye or the size of a given constituent part inside the eye is performed using such an apparatus, there is a problem that differences could be made in results of the measurement because of differences among examiners who operate the apparatus. For example, a measured value of the axial length varies because the degree of a hollow in a cornea of an examinee's eye which is made when bringing the probe into contact with the cornea varies among the examiners. To be more specific, in the case of the examiner who tends to push the cornea relatively firmly with the probe, the degree of the hollow is larger, resulting in a smaller measured value of the axial length, while in the case of the examiner who tends to push the cornea relatively lightly with the probe, the degree of the hollow is smaller, resulting in a larger measured value of the axial length.